Environmental groups are still taking in the news that, because of opposition from Manchin, the spending bill is unlikely to include one of the central elements of Biden’s plan to tackle climate change.

Democrats are scrambling intensely behind-the-scenes to address immigration in the framework they are crafting to expand the nation’s social safety net, according to people with knowledge of the situation…

Paid family leave, one of the hallmarks of President Joe Biden’s social safety net agenda, is in jeopardy of being pared once again or even cut from a major spending bill over a lack of support from Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.

The government’s declaration of civil society organizations in the West Bank as terrorist organizations is a destructive folly that tarnishes all of the parties in the coalition and the state itself.

They pretend to stand up for justice, but in reality act as a frontline for the enemy organizations that seek to destroy the Jewish state.

There are two problems with Gantz’s announcement on Friday. The first is that it was done without providing any evidence. Just a statement to the media… The second problem was that Israel failed to update its American counterparts of what it was planning to do.

Israel’s founders hoped to create a melting pot, a society that blended diverse communities into a single Jewish state. But we encountered an Israel that at times felt more like an unsolvable jigsaw puzzle — a collection of incompatible factions, each with its own priorities, grievances and history.

I can’t think of any country right now that is governed by such an ultra-broad “team of rivals.” Maybe in that rarity lies its beauty.

In Israel, cynicism aside, it’s a breath of fresh air. After more than a decade of ideological gluttons from the Likud running the show, it’s refreshing to see a coalition that strives to represent the whole nation.

The signs are increasing and alarming. Israel is becoming a country where civil discourse and mutual respect are a rarity.

Soldiers, strategists, and government officials in Taiwan and the U.S. say the island’s military is riven with internal problems, many of which have built up over years of calm and economic prosperity and now are eating away at Taiwan’s ability to deter China.

American presidents have spent decades trying to sidestep the question of how forcefully the United States would come to the aid of Taiwan if China invaded it…

In extensive war games held by the US earlier this year, the American forces were able to thwart a simulated Chinese invasion of Taiwan in the year 2030 — just. According to Defense News, exercises estimated it would be a Pyrrhic victory with massive loss of life.

…this year, I don’t know what to do. Is there going to be a massive Halloween turnout or will people stay home? If they come, should we be there for them or turn our lights out and hide guiltily inside? Will our neighbors be giving out candy or abstaining?

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on Sunday encouraged families to celebrate Halloween and other holidays amid the Covid-19 pandemic, though still urged “prevention strategies.“

From the beginning, even before vaccination, it has been obvious that interactions outdoors are very unlikely to transmit COVID . We almost never identify super-spreader events that have resulted from an outdoor event or gathering.

Like the artichoke, Jewish-Italian history involves quite a few layers. The story goes all the way back to around 600 BCE as Jewish traders, merchants, and exiles from Judea started arriving in Sicily.

Cherished alike by diners of different faiths, hummus became the unlikely center of so-called Hummus Wars in 2008, when a proprietary spat arose between Lebanese and Israeli restauranteurs. This and related matters are discussed in “Hummus: A Global History” by the U.K. author Harriet Nussbaum.

As far as I am concerned, the stamp of the Vegetarian Society (a vegsher for lack of a better term) is as good as the stamp of a kashrut agency. With a few exceptions to honour those other, non-animal related ideas of kashrut (grape juice, cheese and milk and bread for some), a vegsher tells us as much as a hechsher.